Tourist Trap Turned Fortress?

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Tourist Trap Turned Fortress?

WASHINGTON - The White House was turned into a fortress on Friday, with armed police guarding an extended perimeter cordon, helicopters clattering overhead and military vehicles posted at strategic points nearby.

Three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the area around the White House, in the heart of Washington, was practically empty of civilians.

"Well, we're at war," American tourist Al Newman said as he stood at one of the barriers. "[The White House] is one of our famous places and we need to protect it."

The White House is usually tightly guarded, with secret service agents manning the gates and tall metal fences surrounding the area. A stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the building has been closed since the deadly 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City.

But recent precautions have now surpassed those measures.

Guards checked pedestrian identifications, allowing only those working at offices within the cordon through the checkpoint. Few people complained, even when people had to wait 10 minutes in the pouring rain for permission to pass.

Tourists had to content themselves with a distant glimpse of America's most famous house, which usually has a stream of visitors going in and out. It was shut to the public on Friday.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer has said there was evidence that the White House was one of the targets of the assault in which hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in Washington, killing hundreds and leaving thousands still missing.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who normally works out of an office in the building next to the White House, has moved to the presidential retreat at Camp David, northwest of the capital, as a precaution.

President Bush was working out of the Oval Office on Friday and held a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Outside, at least six police officers on horseback patrolled up and down Lafayette Park, the green expanse in front of the White House, and soldiers in camouflage kept watch from either side of a Humvee military police car.

Two exits at two separate metro stations close to the White House were shut for security reasons, Metro Transit Police spokesman Steven Taub said.

Cars ground to a halt on the streets ringing the edge of the cordon. Police tried to ease congestion, blowing whistles to redirect traffics.

Most drivers seemed to accept the gridlock patiently.

"Don't know how long I'm going to be. I'll see you when I see you," one businessman said into his cell phone.

"I'm stuck in traffic trying to get to work but it's a small price to have to pay, really. I was actually in front of the Pentagon and saw the plane hit and so I feel a real strong sense of patriotism," she said.

But other drivers were visibly frustrated by their slow progress through the capital. One car tried to pass through a police line, and its driver gesticulated wildly as officers forced him down an alternative street.

The red, white and blue lights of police patrol cars, stationed up and down central Washington, were mirrored by the patriotic clothing some residents wore on Friday.

"I'm wearing this because I'm proud to be an American. It gives the message that we're all one," 63-year-old John Lauterback said, sporting a shirt designed like the U.S. flag.